Alain I of Albret

Alain I "the Great" of Albret (1440-1522) was a powerful French aristocrat and the father of Charlotte of Albret, wife of Cesare Borgia.

Biography
Alain I of Albret was the son of Jean I of Albret, and his loyalty to King Louis XI of France led to his principality being enlarged. He inherited the County of Perigord, the Viscounty of Limoges, and the Chatillon-Blois claims to the Duchy of Brittany through marriage; he proceeded to seize Armagnac and marry his son John to Catherine of Navarre, bringing Navarre under the rule of the House of Albret. During the Mad War, he rebelled against King Charles VIII of France, supporting the Duchy of Brittany in its rebellion against the Kingdom of France. He failed to marry Anne of Brittany, who instead married Charles VIII, ending his dynastic ambitions in Brittany. In May 1499, he had his daughter Charlotte of Albret marry Cesare Borgia, a rising French nobleman, and he stayed out of their affairs out of fear of Cesare, who made it seem as if he was easy to leave a marriage if the father got too involved (this was a part of a ruse to keep Alain out of his affairs). Alain died at the Castel Jaloux in 1522.